Last one standing at Spurs East — he matters

Sure, the Cavaliers hired those who had worked for the Spurs. But they didn’t let them operate as the Spurs have for more than a decade.

Whereas the trademark of the Spurs has been stability, Cleveland cleaned out the top of its organizational flow chart after putting together the best record in each of the past two regular seasons. The Cleveland owner, Dan Gilbert, is closer to being another Jerry Jones than he is to being another Peter Holt. That’s why Danny Ferry chose to leave last week, following Mike Brown out of town.

Still, another who once worked for the Spurs remains in Cleveland, and he will mean something on July 1.

Then, when LeBron James becomes a free agent, Lance Blanks will be there to talk to him.

Blanks may not be enough. LeBron has an entourage whispering in his ear, as well as Nike and the promise of something better.

Gilbert has reacted by claiming more and more control, which is understandable. If he loses LeBron, he might as well lose his arena and logo. The impact would be as the Spurs once described what it would have been like had Tim Duncan left in 2000. “Scorched earth” is how the Spurs phrased a world without Duncan.

But Holt stayed in the background then and trusted in Gregg Popovich. By firing Brown and parting ways with Ferry, Gilbert said, in effect, LeBron didn’t care much about either.

“We feel like we have put the franchise in a great place,” Gilbert said, “for LeBron and all our players.”

Gilbert won’t stop there. Along with the usual millions, he can offer LeBron the coach of his choice. Maybe that works, but, again, it sure isn’t “Spurs East.”

But along with money and power, sometimes relationships matter. They once did for Duncan, and this is where Blanks comes in.

Blanks worked his way up with the Spurs, from a scout to a TV announcer. Sometimes, if one of the Spurs was on the road and needed some help with, say, finding a vet for a dog or cat, Blanks would take care of it.

His job title was elevated to director of scouting before he left for Cleveland with Ferry. But the same, personable, problem-solving approach stayed in place. Blanks had a way with people, which is why his job in recent years has increasingly centered on LeBron.

So if LeBron stays in Cleveland? Maybe it’s because one former Spur did, too.